DdCno1
@DdCno1@beehaw.org
- Comment on Five years from launch the PS5 is a roaring success, so why doesn't it feel like it? [Eurogamer] 1 week ago:
Expedition 33
I haven’t tried this game on the Deck yet, so I can’t confirm these work, but have you looked at how other people have achieved 30 fps on protondb?
www.protondb.com/app/1903340?device=steamDeck
Another option would be to lower difficulty, if you haven’t already. IIRC, the parry window is much wider on easy.
The friends we asked also gave split opinions
Classic too many cooks problem. Best stick to one person who seems like they know what they are talking about. Don’t look at me, I’m just pretending. ;)
but I’m not sure about ventilation then
The more, the merrier. Map out a clear path for the air to travel through the device, from the least hot to the hottest component and out again. Larger fans are quieter at the same amount of air moved than smaller ones. Cable management gets more important the smaller the case is, so make sure to pick a modular power supply and tuck everything that can be tucked away neatly out of sight and out of the way of the airflow.
Without SteamOS it seems I’d need a keyboard/mouse out for every boot too.
You can configure Steam to immediately launch in Big Picture mode on any operating system it supports. There are many ways of achieving this, but here’s a simple script for Windows:
For couch PC gaming, I would also recommend getting one of these cheap and simple little keyboard and mouse remotes (I have amassed several over the years, for some reason).
I’m also not knowledgable about specs, but I figured when, say, Borderlands 4 is not playable at 4K 60fps, then I could just deal with Full HD 30-40fps, which would be enough.
I would recommend waiting until it’s out and people have thoroughly tested it. Within a few days of it reaching the hands of customers, there should be plenty of videos, articles and forum reports on how well it performs with all sorts of games, including particularly demanding ones like Borderlands 4. Digital Foundry are the best address for this kind of performance analysis.
The closest solution is PS5 Pro or PS6 when it comes out (and they fit on shelf, never checked size)
The PS5 (Pro or not) is absolutely humongous. I would be surprised if the PS6 ends up being any smaller. It’ll probably fit onto your shelf, but not in it.
but, no Steam library then. Or mods, emulation. All in all, it seems I’m in an extremely specific situation where buying SM seems optimal.
Looks like it. This computer will undoubtedly be an emulation powerhouse, just like the Deck. If the price is right and if it doesn’t have any teething issues at launch (which I doubt, given how mature the Deck was right away), then it might just be the ideal PC for you. If it’s pricier than expected for the performance, then you might want to return to me and we can discuss a SFF build as an alternative, if you want.
One thing I would recommend is buying the base model and upgrading storage yourself, since this is likely where Valve will charge more than what it would cost to perform the upgrade yourself. There are no other spec differences between the models and it’s likely that they’ll sell the base model close to cost, like the Deck. Based on what I’ve seen, upgrading storage should be trivially easy, far easier than on the Deck.
- Comment on Five years from launch the PS5 is a roaring success, so why doesn't it feel like it? [Eurogamer] 1 week ago:
Which games are you struggling with on the Deck?
What kind of issues did your friend have building a PC? It’s a rather straightforward process, really. You can make mistakes, of course, but if you prepare your build carefully, maybe get a second or third opinion from people with experience and knowledge, read a tutorial or two, then few things can really go wrong. I’m willing to help with the selection of components and some tips on the building process, if you want (I’ve been building PCs for decades, if that counts).
I get the appeal of the “Gabecube” (I hope this name sticks) for you though, but keep in mind that it is a relatively limited system in terms of power, quite a bit below current-gen consoles by current estimates and especially limited by its relatively small amount of VRAM. It should be able to play every Linux-compatible game for now (the most demanding at low settings only), but sooner or later, the limited GPU (which can not be upgraded, unlike on a normal PC), will result in games just not running well enough or not even booting, similar to certain newer games on the Deck. It is considerably more powerful than the Deck though.
It really depends on the price whether or not it’s a good low-end gaming PC. Hardware prices are not exactly ideal at the moment (RAM is the current sticking point, but GPUs aren’t cheap either), so if the Deck manages to be more affordable than a comparable budget build - kind of like the base-model Steam Deck has been a very impressive value proposition - it might be worth it.
- Comment on Five years from launch the PS5 is a roaring success, so why doesn't it feel like it? [Eurogamer] 1 week ago:
There are games, but few exclusives (just 18 the last time I checked). If you want to play modern games and don’t want a PC, it’s fine for that, without really being special in any way. It is a difficult value proposition for owners of the previous gen, since the jump in visual fidelity is much smaller than between prior generations (an inevitability that isn’t Sony’s fault) and since the previous generation is still being at least partially supported and was strongly supported for a very long time. However, over time, most have clearly made the jump and with the release of GTA VI (timed exclusive for PS), the system will see another significant boost.
Mods are not really a factor on consoles. Very few console gamers care about them. Xbox has slightly better support with fewer restrictions, but there are only a handful of games with support (mainly Bethesda RPGs). It clearly hasn’t helped the competition from Redmond.
- Comment on Star Citizen fans sigh deeply, rub their foreheads as developer casts doubt on Squadron 42's 2026 release: 'I don't know if we're going to make it' 2 months ago:
Both games released and even the N64 port of Daikatana is more fun on original hardware than Star Citizen ever will be.
- Comment on Tech CEOs Praise Donald Trump at White House Dinner 2 months ago:
Sure, but what play is being performed here? These men are more than powerful enough to go against Trump, yet every single one of them is playing the part of the obedient subject to the mighty king. The message of this bizarre play is that Trump is in charge, that he demands, in return of leaving you and your business alone, acts of what can only be described as public debasement.
That’s unsettling for a long list of reasons.
- Comment on An OpenAI whistleblower was found dead in his apartment. Now his mother wants answers 9 months ago:
It can mean that, but it’s also possible that he already had psychological issues. While the entire thing stinks and my first instinct is to assume foul play as well, it’s still important not to jump to conclusions. The reason is simple: If there’s a real case of corporate murder, then people will take it less seriously due to past conspiracy theories.
- Comment on Hogwarts Legacy Reportedly Getting New Content & A Sequel 9 months ago:
Just pirate the game. She won’t get a penny and you can play one of the better recent open world games. I’ve never particularly liked Harry Potter, even before the author showed her true colors, but I still enjoyed this game.
- Comment on Grand Theft Auto 6 is still hitting consoles in autumn, says Take-Two boss, promise 9 months ago:
This is perhaps the one game in development right now that could release at any time this year, next year or the year after that and it would still perform incredibly well. It’s pretty dead-set on being the largest entertainment launch in history. In other words: They can give it all the time it needs. The only worry from Rockstar’s and Take 2’s perspective is that they need to coordinate it with the behemoth of a marketing campaign that will be accompanying its release. There won’t be a last-minute delay, but if it needs more time, they need to realize this months ahead. So far, it seems to be on track or else the CEO wouldn’t release statements like these.
Since there is no PC release at launch and since it’s only targeting four different hardware configurations for the time being (both variants of the current-gen PS and Xbox), they don’t need to worry about making it run reliably on a wide variety of systems. Just like every other AAA developer, they are probably cursing Microsoft for releasing the cut-down Xbox Series S, but given what they have achieved in the past with hardware far less powerful, I doubt that Rockstar’s tech wizards will have too much trouble with getting GTA VI to run on this affordable console.
You are right about crunch though. Rockstar is notorious for this, always has been. I hope they’ve learned their lesson by now, realized that all crunch does is make people burn themselves out for worse results, but who knows, given how secretive the firm is.
- Comment on Grand Theft Auto 6 is still hitting consoles in autumn, says Take-Two boss, promise 9 months ago:
GTA V and RDR2 weren’t broken upon release, so why assume the worst with this game?
- Comment on 5 bizarre AI TV features that simply shouldn't exist 9 months ago:
Yup. One of several reasons why the Shield TV Pro is still the best streaming box. Using a smart TV after having gotten used to this device is painful.
- Comment on 5 bizarre AI TV features that simply shouldn't exist 9 months ago:
What you’re asking for is a monitor, not a TV. The last TV I’ve seen that is this limited still had a picture tube - and it wasn’t even the last CRT TV I’ve used (we actually had a very late one with HDMI). Regardless of how silly AI features are, there’s a middle ground.
- Comment on EA re-release The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 on PC as DLC-stuffed Legacy editions 9 months ago:
Installation is a tiny bit more complicated this way though. You need to manually unpack the content of the archives into your desired install folder before launching the installation, which then needs to install into this folder.
- Comment on EA re-release The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 on PC as DLC-stuffed Legacy editions 9 months ago:
Large corporations, just like any large organization, have significant institutional momentum. I would bet good money that this move was planned for months, if not longer, and was not a reaction to Veilguard underperforming.
- Comment on EA re-release The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 on PC as DLC-stuffed Legacy editions 9 months ago:
I would strongly suggest downloading the standalone installer and the install files (on a different github, you can see the address when using the web installer), in case this gets taken down, which isn’t exactly unlikely, now that the game isn’t abandonware anymore.
- Comment on EA re-release The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 on PC as DLC-stuffed Legacy editions 9 months ago:
I’m well aware. How does them re-releasing older games make this worse?
- Comment on EA re-release The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 on PC as DLC-stuffed Legacy editions 9 months ago:
How are these things even related?
- Comment on Bill proposed to outlaw downloading Chinese AI models. 9 months ago:
This model would not exist without the work done by OpenAI though, given that the Chinese company secretly used ChatGPT to train it.
- Comment on Bill proposed to outlaw downloading Chinese AI models. 9 months ago:
Not really, given the media frenzy surrounding this model.
- Comment on EA re-release The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 on PC as DLC-stuffed Legacy editions 9 months ago:
Unlikely. I tried it with all expansions a few years ago (back when EA released it for free) and loading times were “only” a few minutes.
Did you have a bazillion mods installed? What kind of hardware were you using?
- Comment on The Sims and The Sims 2 officially return with a Legacy Collection for each 9 months ago:
Denuvo on decades-old games, for reasons.
It is worth mentioning that EA themselves gave Sims 2 with all expansions away for free a few years ago. This version is neither difficult to find nor to run. Sims 1 is a bit more temperamental, so there might be some value to this re-release, but I’d wait until they inevitably remove Denuvo in a few months to a year, unless you absolutely have to revisit it right now.
- Comment on German Seagate customers say their 'new' hard drives were actually used – resold HDDs reportedly used for tens of thousands of hours 9 months ago:
I was looking at 4 and 8TB Seagate drives at various German online retailers a few months ago and there were indeed a few suspiciously cheap ones that could have only been disguised used drives. It irritated me so much, it made me postpone a server expansion.
- Comment on Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of January 26th 9 months ago:
I’ve never played a Commandos game for some reason, so I couldn’t tell, but I would say it’s about on par with Desperados 1 in terms of gameplay, if perhaps a bit less punishing. Cutscenes and voice acting (at least with the German version I played) are considerably worse however and I have no idea why.
I can confirm that these looked magnificent on a high quality CRT. This was a transitional period, when 3D graphics were not able to deliver the same amount of detail as the best 2D isometric graphics just yet. That said, everyone knew that the clock was ticking, since the advantages of fully 3D graphics were obvious and, unlike today, technological progress happened at breakneck speeds.
I was particularly fond of isometric RTS games back then. I spent the most amount of time with Age of Empires II (of course), but there were many others, like Cossacks (2001) from GSC Gameworld (who would later develop S.T.A.L.K.E.R.), which didn’t look as good as the inspiration, but boasted far larger maps and enormous numbers of units on screen. With American Conquest (2002), they refined the concept and overtook the original version of AoK in terms of visuals, with huge and detailed sprite work, as well as even more insane unit counts that pushed CPUs of the time to their limits. The gameplay was almost on par as well, with quite a bit more depth. It’s ridiculous just how much more sophisticated it is compared to Cossacks, despite there being only 1.5 years between the two. America (2000) is a more obscure title from this era, essentially a Wild West clone of Age of Empires. It’s quite solid, but unremarkable compared to the other games mentioned here.
Another Eastern European series I was fond of was Sudden Strike, set in WW2, as well as its sequel and countless spin-offs and expansions. There’s a model train charm to the detailed visuals, despite the not exactly charming setting. Fiendishly hard and realistic, but for all of its realism, it unfortunately decides to ignore the context of many battles, especially the war crimes that happened around them, which is troubling, since you can also play from the German perspective. Blitzkrieg (2005) is quite similar in terms of gameplay, although with a more sophisticated engine that blends 2D and 3D elements. However, when the groundbreaking Codename Panzers with its amazing fully 3D graphics and tight (if unrealistic) gameplay and mission design came out in 2004, all of these more technologically conservative WW2 RTS games instantly felt outdated, even though it came out right in the middle of them. They still had their value though, since Codename Panzers wasn’t trying to replace them in terms of gameplay, focusing on decision making instead of simulation.
Similarly, Desperados 2 (2006) made the first game feel a century old. From the same camera distance as the first game, it both looked far better than the original and had the advantage of dynamic lighting, more fluidity and a freely rotatable camera. Up close it was a bit blocky, but this was to be expected back then.
Many of the titles mentioned above can be rather troublesome on modern systems, so I highly recommend checking out their pages on the PCGamingWiki, which is a truly invaluable resource.
- Comment on What are some games you like that most people hate and/or were panned by critics? 9 months ago:
I didn’t have this impression, but maybe the dry German dialogue doesn’t translate well into English.
- Comment on OpenAI Furious DeepSeek Might Have Stolen All the Data OpenAI Stole From Us [404 Media] 9 months ago:
Because it’s designed by a genocidal imperialist regime and intended to increase its global influence. It’s a heavily censored model that spreads Chinese government propaganda and distorts the truth.
- Comment on Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of January 26th 9 months ago:
Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive
Have you heard of Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood from the same developers? A very similar game in many ways, with some of the most beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds I’ve ever seen in an isometric game. And yes, the AI can also be played around with at will, although it feels a bit more sophisticated compared to Desperados.
- 52-year-old 'Super Mario' supermarket in Costa Rica wins unlikely victory against the Nintendo lawyers: "He is Don Mario, he's my dad"www.pcgamer.com ↗Submitted 9 months ago to gaming@beehaw.org | 4 comments
- Comment on What are some games you like that most people hate and/or were panned by critics? 9 months ago:
Sorry, must have missed this.
- Comment on What are some games you like that most people hate and/or were panned by critics? 9 months ago:
Year and average review score across all available platforms in brackets. I played all of these on PC.
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Trespasser (1998, 57): First person shooter based on Jurassic Park. Noteworthy for huge open areas, detailed dinosaurs with procedural animations and a physics engine that would only be surpassed by Half-Life 2 six years later. It is clunky, difficult to control and buggy, a challenge to get running both on contemporary and current PCs, but the atmosphere, the level design and the sheer awe at what they were able to pull off in the '90s is just unbelievable. I first played it many years after its release and it still blew me away.
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Elex (2017, 62): Open World RPG from the creators of Gothic and Risen. It’s the definition of ‘Eurojank’, with controls that a bit of time getting used to, high difficulty and dated animations. I really enjoyed my time with it though, because it has a gorgeous, well-designed post-apocalyptic open world, clever quests that frequently allow for multiple approaches, factions that are truly different from one another, rewarding combat and interesting progression with tons of player choice. Just like previous games from this developer, it follows the formula of placing strong gatekeeper enemies at choke points, which serve to guide progression - but there’s nothing stopping a skilled and/or determined player from circumventing or outsmarting them. The inclusion of a jet pack makes this more fun than in any other game I’ve played. This device isn’t easy to use, but very early on, at the first location the first companion takes the player to, there’s a transmission tower with a reward at the top. Figure out how to climb it with the jet pack - which may take a few attempts - and you’ll have learned how to use this jet pack. This is a bit frustrating and can take 20 minutes to half an hour, but once you’ve done this, you’ll notice that the entire game was designed with this mode of transportation in mind. Watching other people play this game is incredibly frustrating to me, because they rarely if ever look up, rarely if ever use it to climb structures and natural obstacles to get to items or gain an advantage in combat. Maybe the developers should have created a more in-depth tutorial on this thing, but I think this is one of the main reasons why people aren’t getting this game.
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Homefront: The Revolution (2016, 50): Semi-open world first person shooter. Set in a USA that was somehow defeated and is occupied by a hyper-advanced North Korea that is certainly not a clumsy stand-in for China, you’re playing a brave American resistance fighter against the occupation. Spec Ops: The Line, this ain’t - don’t expect any subtlety or finesse to the narration here, but it works as a scenario. The gameplay is where it’s truly interesting. It’s kind of like the opening hours of Far Cry 3, except that you’re not fighting against a few pirates, but a vastly technologically and numerically superior enemy that will hunt you down mercilessly in a half-destroyed American city. The feeling of powerlessness, yet determination, the thrill of pulling off a successful ambush and then scrambling away as the enemy throws everything they have at you is quite something. It’s not without its flaws, mind you. More linear story missions are hit and miss, even after many patches there are still bugs and glitches, it is slightly generic in terms of gameplay, but when everything comes together, it’s a really solid experience.
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AquaNox 2: Revelation (2003, 59): Underwater first-person shooter masquerading as a submarine game. This is actually the third game in the series, after Archimedean Dynasty (also known under its original German title of Schleichfahrt) and AquaNox 1. The setting is a post-apocalyptic irradiated Earth where the remnants of humanity have fled to the bottom of the oceans to survive. Naturally, the fight for power and resources continue there. I’ve never actually played the predecessors, but this game is one of my favorites from the early 2000s. It looks stunning for the time (no wonder they created a benchmark, AquaMark, using engine and assets from the game) and gameplay is a really interesting 3dof that blends stealth and action in bleak, but varied enough underwater environments. Story and characters are charming, the universe is interesting and it’s just a blast from start to finish. It did receive really high review scores in Europe and especially Germany (lots of 85), so perhaps it’s just a case of international audiences/reviewers not getting it, similar to how Gothic and Risen were far more popular there.
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Damnation (2009, 38): Probably the worst game on this list. Damnation is a third person shooter set in an alternate-history US Civil War with advanced steampunk technology. The story is extremely poorly presented, controls are clunky, enemy AI is braindead, there are glitches galore, but somehow, I still had fun with it. While the graphics are nothing to write home about and perhaps the epitome of the brownness of this era of gaming, there is a sense of scale that is rare in games like these, with huge levels and impressive vistas. It’s not truly open world, but the sense of scale, the feeling of traversing large environments (an aspect that Elex also nails, but with a true open worlds) is something to behold. As poor as the narration is, the setting is also interesting enough to deal with the below-average cover shooting gameplay. If screenshots and videos appeal to you, then it might be worth checking out.
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Velvet Assassin (2009, 59): Dreamy third person stealth game set in WW2. It’s a Splinter Cell clone at heart, but far more challenging. This is an unusually bleak and dark take on WW2 that, unlike most other games with this setting, doesn’t shy away from topics like mass murder and trauma - but it’s also willing to experiment: Most of the game is essentially the protagonist suffering through a fever dream, recalling her exploits as a British commando in her hospital bed. This leads to the surreal gameplay elements: The protagonist is heavily wounded, but if she injects morphine on her hospital bed, she can prance around the levels in a white nightgown, murdering Nazis in slow motion.The difficult, slightly unpolished gameplay is the main reason for the relatively low review scores, but fans of stealth games who want to explore a more unusual WW2 setting might want to give it a go.
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Legend Hand of God (2007, 57): A Diablo-clone with a constantly talking and rather snarky fairy as your mouse pointer. German voice acting is good, English localization not so much. There’s nothing exceptional about it, except for its presentation: Instead of disconnected animations, there are custom ones for each weapon and enemy type, a unique feature in this genre. It just looks so much more immersive. The dynamic lighting and, for the time, very detailed environments are also quite a visual treat. The world is relatively compact, making it a nice hack and slash snack.
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- Comment on What are some games you like that most people hate and/or were panned by critics? 9 months ago:
Did you play it with the mod that fixes the Alien AI?
- Comment on OpenAI Furious DeepSeek Might Have Stolen All the Data OpenAI Stole From Us [404 Media] 9 months ago:
I can’t be the only one who wants to see both of them losing this fight.
